


mine would have taught thine heart to show

by suzukiblu



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Because yes, F/M, Post-Iron Man 3, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, they are both TERRIBLE AT THIS, yes it would take them that long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 13:37:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2193762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzukiblu/pseuds/suzukiblu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, this is mortifying,” Tony says the morning after their latest near-death experience, staring at the targeting system outlined around Pepper’s eye and filled in with a garish near-neon blue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	mine would have taught thine heart to show

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Fixed Foot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2058969) by [samalander](https://archiveofourown.org/users/samalander/pseuds/samalander). 



> Stealing someone else’s soulmate-mark AU concept again, wheeeeee! Look, I’m sorry, soulmate-mark AUs are just the best thing of all things, okay? Okay. It can’t be helped. This one is [samalander](http://archiveofourown.org/users/samalander/pseuds/samalander)’s, derived from [this](http://intosnarkness.tumblr.com/post/89592561481) post, and her version of it was much more heartbreaking; mine is just Tony Stark and Pepper Potts being ridiculous at each other because _heck yeah_ am I into that. 
> 
> Title from John Donne's "The Broken Heart". 
> 
> _I brought a heart into the room,  
>  But from the room I carried none with me.  
> If it had gone to thee, I know  
> Mine would have taught thine heart to show_

“Well, this is mortifying,” Tony says the morning after their latest near-death experience, staring at the targeting system outlined around Pepper’s eye and filled in with a garish near-neon blue. It actually looks good, sets off her coloring nicely, but he doubts she’d going to see it that way because it is also _huge_ and takes up a good quarter of her face and “symbolism” and “personal meaning” aside absolutely _no one_ will mistake this mark for anybody but him. 

“Just show me yours,” Pepper says wearily, her mouth a sour line. She does not look pleased. Tony doesn’t blame her; getting mutually marked is a _terrible_ idea. Really, just--it is just _awful_. And they’ve been doing very well without it all this time, thank you very much! He’s already covered in the uncolored outlines of way, way too many people to count, he didn’t need to go around actually _loving anyone back_. 

“Um, that would be grounds for a sexual harassment suit,” he admits with a wince. “Not to imply you would file suit, I mean, please don’t file a suit because we went and got each other marked, I will _make_ you a suit and even keep my pants on and, uh, admittedly it’s a third date mark on my end--” 

“Oh, _Tony_ ,” she says, exasperated. It’s not like they’ve never seen each other naked, and this is long past their third date, but--still. 

“It’s _your mark_!” he protests anyway. Can’t he at least get that much credit, it’s not like he picked the placement or anything, if they were picking placement Pepper’s would definitely not be on her _face_. Like, at worst she’d have gotten an arc reactor over her chest or something. 

. . . come to think of it, the arc reactor would make more sense anyway, he wonders why it’s the targeting system when it could’ve been that. The arc reactor kept him alive for _years_ and has made his redeemed career and also once made Pepper stick her hand in his chest, and has generally featured very heavily in their relationship; the targeting system is just a targeting system. Admittedly a brilliantly-designed and very impressive one, because it’s _his_ , but still. 

He’d be a lot better at this if he understood why it was the targeting system, he thinks. 

“I can’t believe you,” Pepper says, shaking her head. 

“To be fair, pretty much everywhere else _was_ covered,” Tony points out, gesturing meaningfully with his much-marked arms, freckled and criss-crossed and in some places outright _stacked_ with the uncolored love of strangers he’s never even met, like most any celebrity’s. Pepper does not seem to be moved. “You’d kill me no matter where it was, though, which I am honestly hurt by, really, where’s the gratitude for all those times I let you very impressively save my life?” 

“. . . what’s the mark,” she asks, resigned. 

“Definitely not a strawberry,” he lies. Pepper just _looks_ at him. 

“I can’t even talk to you right now,” she says. 

“No, definitely, I definitely agree,” Tony says, nodding along with a few accompanying suitably dramatic hand gestures. “Except I also want to kiss you, somehow, it’s a very weird dichotomy I’ve got going right now. I should definitely shut up.” 

“Why is it you only do that when you finally start saying something I want to hear?” Pepper asks with a sigh, and pulls him in. 

They kiss, and he thinks about all the times he could’ve gotten her killed through sheer negligence alone, buying her strawberries or trusting the wrong person or not being fast or strong enough; he thinks about the violent red of his own love for her, burning Extremis-bright and filling up the mark she left on him like he hates to feel it filling _him_ up, like it’s something he deserves. Something he can have. 

Like Pepper gave him one of his worst mistakes and told him to prove he could do better and he _did_. 

And he thinks about the targeting system on her face and still doesn’t get it, but the rest of it . . . the rest of it makes a little more sense. 

“This is a terrible idea,” he tells her between kisses as he touches the neon blue circles curving over her cheekbone and around one of her too-intent eyes, showing where _everyone_ can see just how vulnerable they both really are. Like a glow in his chest, a man without armor, an address on television, a woman falling into fire--a target. “Really, just awful, the very worst we’ve ever had.” 

“Show me your mark,” she says, something glowing underneath her skin to match it. A target, or something that might happen if a target hit back. 

So he shows her.


End file.
